


Turn Off Undertale

by Rayify



Category: OFF (Game), Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-26
Updated: 2016-02-27
Packaged: 2018-05-23 15:07:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 7,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6120385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rayify/pseuds/Rayify
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Batter has a new mission: protect Frisk. Crossing into the realm of the Underground, neither Frisk nor the Batter know why spectres have appeared there. Fate wants them together, clearly. But why? You get the feeling something's... off.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Return

Something in the darkness was wrong.

“Wow. I thought you would’ve learned your lesson by now.” It was a familiar, high-pitched voice that broke the silence. “But you really ARE an idiot.”

A lone flower popped from out of the ground, greeting Frisk, as they walked into the otherwise black clearing. “Hi! I’m Flowey. Flowey the flower!” he greeted, oh-so cheerfully.

“Why are you here?”

Why? Because you couldn’t help it. That’s why.

It’s just a game, right? You’d just come back from playing the game, OFF, and you know? It made you feel like playing Undertale again. Maybe it was the odd atmosphere that the game gave off and how similar you felt it was to Undertale, but you felt like you needed to play through again, just for fun.

Frisk stayed ever silent.

Flowey laughed. “Are you here to get your perfect ending _again_?”

Well, yes. It hadn’t been the first time that you’d cleared the game with a Pacifist run. It was an addictively humorous game. Maybe you felt like you needed to cheer up a little after OFF.

“Once an idiot, always an idiot. I thought you cared about your friends here.”

Your avatar, Frisk, tightened their fists as they listened to Flowey.

“What terrible things have you been up to recently?”

Nothing. You had just slaughtered almost every single living being to get to the end of OFF. Only Zacharie’s fate seemed to be unknown… and perhaps that one Elsen living in that bunker on the right side of the residential district.

But otherwise…

Yes, you killed everyone. ‘Purification’ your foot, right? Didn’t it bring you joy?

Could you… Should you answer that?

“You know what I think?”

Frisk looked worried as Flowey’s deranged, but familiar smile appeared on his face; a previously, almost insufferably cheerful smile.

“If you’re really so eager to come back here, you should do things _differently_. If you aren’t satisfied with your Save, then why not?” he goaded.

They hoped and prayed that who or whatever had control of them wouldn’t do something that stupid. Could they be willing to throw away all that they had gained from their experiences here?

Could they?

It hadn’t gone past your notice to see that Undertale’s dialogue had changed.

“You’re boring, as always.”

White ‘pellets’ surrounded Frisk in a circle. There appeared to be no way of escape.

Could Toriel just be around to the corner? They had no way of defending themselves, after all. But then again… every Save and Load could end up being different to the last. That thought began filling Frisk with panic.

Who was to say that the game couldn’t do something like this? Like a new add-on (Alpha, Omega and Epsilon’s names were burned in mind) or just plain different version of the game that you’d downloaded?

Flames seared their way on-screen, burning away the ‘pellets’ and knocking Flowey away.

As everyone jokingly called her… it was Goat Mum. Or as her name would have it, Toriel. “What a terrible creature, torturing a pure, innocent youth… Ah, do not be afraid, my child. I am Toriel, caretaker of the ruins.”

Frisk breathed a sigh of relief as Toriel spoke about them being the first to fall down in a long time.

You batted the words out of your ears. You’d heard this all before.

Haha. Bat.

They followed Toriel through the ruins, meeting a very familiar dummy. But seriously, was there no way to get around that dummy without triggering a fight of some sort later on? The music was pretty damn swish, but…

In any case, you talked to the dummy and left for the next puzzle room. Easy. It wasn’t like Toriel wanted you to get lost, or really, any of the other humans that managed to fall down there. That was painfully easy to see with all the yellow writing next to the labelled switches.

Well… if you’re really going to get scared, Frisk, there’s always that person behind the screen to help you out.

Frisk bit their lip and followed through the ruins further, making pleasant conversation with a Froggit before it was chased off by Toriel.

You’d figured out a while ago how this room went; the path in the first room was the path to get across the spikes.

Past Toriel you went, sure of your steps across the hazardous floor. Right, up, down, right… Frisk looked back at her, as if trying to reassure that they’d be alright. She blinked for a moment before catching up with them. “What a clever, yet reckless thing to do,” Toriel murmured before gesturing to the next long hallway.

There was an uncertainty as Frisk wandered down the path. To ‘test their independence’, she reasoned.

It simply felt like there was something watching you; something other than perhaps, the heart-warming presence of Toriel. Why was it that Frisk felt afraid?

I believed that after switching the game off, things would turn out better. You helped me through when Pablo tried to stop me and for that, I couldn’t be more thankful.

Do you want me to return the favour?

Frisk looked up and down the corridor, feeling unrest crawl over their shoulders.

Blood spattered onto the ground. If you say that it will make you happy, I will hold my weapon against anything that dares to hurt you.

“Who are you?” Frisk spoke in low tones.

“The Batter,” I replied. “I am on a sacred mission. They…” I pointed my bat towards the sky, “will see to it that my mission is accomplished.”

They looked at me disbelievingly. “And what you just killed?”

“A spectre.”

Frisk’s eyes widened. A spectre. A ghost. Somehow they didn’t want the Batter near Napstablook or Mettaton.

“I will purify the world. You will be safe.”

Frisk gulped, hesitantly following the path with the Batter in tow.

Something was off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Transferred from A Dog In Fox Clothing's Fanfiction account. Yup, this craziness is mine. First two chapters are shaky. The rest should be better, but they get even crazier. Enjoy.


	2. Confrontation

Did they have a friend?

Once Frisk and I passed the white pillar at the end of the corridor, that monster… Toriel, she reappeared from behind it. I tightened the grip on my bat, but at Frisk’s look, I stayed still as she spoke.

“Hello again. Do not worry; I have not left you. I was merely standing behind that pillar the whole time,” she said with a reassuring smile.

Frisk seemed troubled and that expression, Toriel stated the purpose of that exercise and that she had to do something which would leave the two of us alone. She gave a cell phone to Frisk (unfortunately for you, without Alphys’ upgrades) and soon left.

“She couldn’t see you,” they pointed out.

“Yes.” Perhaps I really was one of those ethereal, ectoplasmic figments of Pablo’s imagination?

Frisk gave me a demanding look for an answer I wouldn’t give. “How will you purify the world?”

The question tensed the grip I had on my weapon. I felt a familiar itch; one that urged me to swing at the nearest phantom. I looked at Frisk, gesturing with my bat.

“But… you can’t. They’re my friends. They haven’t done anything wrong,” they pleaded.

“It’s better that way.” You thought so too, didn’t you? That’s why you let me win when you could’ve sided with Pablo.

Isn’t it?

You didn’t hesitate before moving Frisk to the next room. They picked up a piece of candy from the upper room, past a Froggit.

It hopped into their path, aiming for Frisk’s pounding SOUL. They dodged, clearly used to the attacks from the Froggit before complimenting it and parting ways. It was evident that they’d done this all before.

“You let it go.” I walked over to a pile of leaves, where I saw a glimmer of… something.

“Of course I did,” Frisk replied, walking over to the glowing spot. “You wouldn’t?”

“They’d be dead already.”

Horror crossed their features. “They have friends and family. They’ve done nothing to earn that. And even then, you can’t just go and murder people,” Frisk argued.

Before I could reply, a white spectre roared out of the ground, typical in form. Frisk on the other hand, had never seen such a creature before and meekly backed away. “Where are these coming from!?”

“Does it matter?” I swung wildly, but surely into the ghost’s body, blowing a hole through it and scarlet over the violet pavement.

“Can’t we talk this out?” Frisk was determined (you chuckled at that) to make sure that the billowing, writhing creature wouldn’t meet my judgement. They pulled at my wrist, but I was already mid-swing and a violent crack rang through the poltergeist.

It collided with the ground, spilling more blood on the floor. Frisk gasped and ran over to the ghost, which growled defiantly at them. They turned back as I was about to deliver a downwards blow. “They must be purified.”

“Just hold on a minute here! What’s wrong with this spectre? It doesn’t look any more harmful than someone like Napstablook or Mettaton,” Frisk said, arms wide open.

The shuddering beast hissed, still staining the path. They shook their head and tried to feed the spectre the monster candy they’d picked up earlier. “It’s not a Ghost Candy,” I pointed out.

Frisk growled to themselves and retracted their arm, watching the spectre become, rather ironically, limp and lifeless on the ground. He was right. They couldn’t eat ghost sandwiches and ghosts couldn’t eat normal sandwiches. Should’ve remembered that from when they were hanging out with Napstablook.

Thoroughly distracted, I finally made the spectre’s final blow, smashing it into incoherent screeching and spitting blood. Frisk stared at me, wide-eyed. “How could you…?”

I flicked the stains from my bat, pretending not to hear Frisk as I continued down the path. I didn’t question whether or not these spectres truly had more sentience than simply harassing or killing the Elsen. You didn’t either, did you?

A Whimsun approached meekly. I readied my bat, but Frisk had stepped in already, managing to catch up. “Please go!”

The monster squeaked pitifully before whizzing away.

“You can’t ‘purify’ them,” they spat. “Why must you even try?”

“…it’s just better this way.”

Frisk blinked up at me. “That doesn’t explain anything.”

“The Player knows.”

Frisk looked up as they heard, seemingly in shock. You’d done nothing but lead them to an ending where… well, pretty much everyone was happy. Everyone but Asriel. You’d allowed them to reach what would be considered the best ending of the game and they never wavered on that fact.

But… you did also allow the Batter to reach his true goal of ‘purifying’ everyone in the world of OFF; killing everyone, innocent or guilty of sin and wiping each Zone clean of life.

To be honest… you had fun doing it. You liked the game. If you were in the mood, you’d probably go back and play it again for my sole ending.

“No. I don’t believe you,” Frisk retorted.

“If they could speak, they would speak my words. Now, let’s go,” I said impatiently.

They bit their lip, sighed and continued on the path, expecting Toriel’s phone call.

I followed solemnly, watching Frisk converse with Toriel. They gave me glances every so often, as if wary of my next actions.

The puzzles in the ruins were simple and well learned, although I almost didn’t have the patience for that damned rock to move of its own accord. At least the puzzles back in my world weren’t _sentient._

“Thanks,” Frisk said to the rock before moving on through the previously spiked path.

Up ahead… I saw a ghost. A spectre. It was lying on the ground, amongst leaves, pretending to sleep.

Frisk approached it without a care in the world. They called it Napstablook. I called it enemy.

I readied my bat.


	3. Pleading

Purification failed.

With one fell swoop, the spectre’s HP bar faded to nothing.

Frisk blinked for a moment as they registered the event that just occurred before them. “It isn’t dead,” I muttered to myself as I rested my bat on my shoulder. In fact, I almost felt a tiny smidge of power fade from me, somehow. Minus one experience point? Are you serious?

“oh sorry…” Napstablook murmured. He could see me somehow. “i was just… lowering my hp bar… to be polite…” He hummed to himself before beginning to exit the ruins. “i… i’ll get out of your way now…”

“W-Wait!” Frisk called out to him, making him stop for a moment. “I like your hat.”

The ghost was surprised. He hadn’t shown them Dapperblook.

I growled to myself. Ghosts in this world couldn’t be killed unless they were corporeal; attached to a real object. How could I forget?

“Oh… Thank you?” It was unsure of what to say, before floating out to the left entrance.

I can’t use Ultimate Homerun.

Frisk seemed relieved as they headed straight down the path to a spider bake sale, leaving some coins in the web for a donut and drink. They petted one of the spiders before leaving with the two items.

You come to a point where you aren’t able to level up anymore. You reach something called a level cap. It’s not necessary for me to reach the level cap, but I can. And I just lost an experience point because of that fight. Back to level 44.

I call bullshit.

“Hey, Batter.”

Frisk wasn’t afraid of my glare. “Hey Batter, Batter, Batter, Batter schwing. You really need to lighten up,” they said. I don’t understand why you’re laughing. “Besides… Napstablook’s my friend.”

“Because he is your friend, I cannot attack him? What kind of logic is that?”

They frowned as they continued down the path, now lined with a total of three Froggits. “It’s not logic, Batter,” Frisk explained, “It’s my morality.”

“Oh. That thing,” I muttered. People thinking of things as right and wrong. When wasn’t murder justifiable? When did it become a norm not to kill? “You’re relying on something like that.”

Frisk gritted their teeth. “What else do we have to rely on anymore? Do you do what you do because you think it’s right?”

I shook my head. “It’s not because ‘it’s right’. It’s because ‘it’s best’.”

“What’s the difference?” They seemed oddly sorrowful.

Shrug. “I don’t normally kill. But I had to. Do you see?”

They looked at me for a moment before continuing down the puzzle fraught path. “I see it, I think.” However, the frown was plainly in sight. “But I don’t agree that… I don’t agree that you should give up your morality like that. It’s actually like mine, isn’t it?”

“Is it now?”

“Yeah! I bet you didn’t actually _want_ to kill any of the things that you did!” Frisk proclaimed. “Is there really an excuse for murdering like you did?”

I gritted my teeth. “Of course there is!”

Their expression challenged mine. “Then what?!” The grip on my bat grew tighter, my arm resisting with all its power not to strike at them. “If you just tell me… then… maybe I could understand! You never know…” A glint appeared in their eyes, ever so small. Determination. “Until you tell. And if I still don’t understand after that, then nothing happens.”

Frisk’s faith is annoyingly admirable. “Fine…”

The rooms of rotating perspective were easy enough. You and Frisk had already memorised where all the correct switches were. “The place where I came from used to be… fine.”

The scent of smoke and the distinctly plastic tinged air was an odd, nostalgic haze. The quiet clank of metal from Elsen footsteps. Faint stench of slaughter. Rotting meat. The memories of it grew worse the more I thought about it.

“At first. Then its deterioration began.” Frisk furrowed their brow, but didn’t seem inclined to interrupt me. In thought, it seemed. “The guardians of that world failed their tasks, letting themselves be consumed in their own negative emotions. The queen that ruled over the land was no help as she neglected her original purpose and ravaged the zones with her spectres and phantasmagorial beings.”

They sighed, as if conceding something. “The deluded guardians and their ruler accelerated the world’s demise. They wouldn’t stop themselves and no-one could reason with them.

“I thought at first that removing the spectres would fix it. But the guardians truly were the source of the world’s misery. The ghosts only exacerbated the problem.”

“Hey.” Frisk tugged at my pant. “I guess that unreasonable behaviour might drive anyone to resort to killing, even if… they don’t want to.” I shrugged. The novelty and edge of the idea had dulled over time. I didn’t and couldn’t care about it anymore.

“Batter. I think I know why we’re different. Above all else, I mean.”

I gazed at Frisk thinly. “It’s because my world is different to yours.” Oh _really_? “You said you came from a different place to here, didn’t you?”

I gave a nod in response. “How and why? Why are you here?”

I looked up at you, knowing I’d get no response. “How, I don’t know. Why…? Someone tasked me with protecting you, as if you needed it.” I couldn’t stifle my scoff.

“You don’t know who, I guess?” I shook my head.

Frisk sighed, now sighting an old tree in the distance surrounded by a mat of red leaves. “Okay. Well… Batter… is that really your name? Um… I guess you can keep on doing whatever that person told you to do. But I just don’t want you to hurt my friends or the monsters here. I can handle myself around them. I have before.”

I rubbed the back of my head. “I suppose… But I will not hesitate if they do end up trying to hurt you.”

They nodded, waiting as Toriel rushed out of Home, muttering about how long something took and taking out her cell phone to contact Frisk. “How did you get here, my child?” She rushed over and gave them a hug. “I’m impressed that you made it here without even a scratch, but…”

“Mm… Sorry,” they apologised, glancing at me before turning their attention back to Toriel.

She shook her head, letting go of Frisk. “I should not left you alone for so long. It was irresponsible of me to try to surprise you like this…” Toriel realised what she’d given away.

After gesturing for Frisk to make their way into Home, I followed in after with my… unnaturally quiet footsteps. I couldn’t help but recollect what that Elsen had said to me a while ago. It was an odd comment. Either way, Toriel couldn’t see me. I didn’t want her to.

With cursory introductions and with butterscotch-cinnamon pie on the horizon, Frisk headed to the room that they were given and sat on the bed, testing out its springiness. They seemed rather satisfied with it. “I’m gonna take a nap…” they mumbled before curling up on top of the sheets.

A heavy exhale later, I sat down next to the bed on the floor, glancing at Frisk.

Sound asleep. They reminded me of something. I took out the music box I’d collected from the Room. It started playing after I wound it up. But they were nothing like Hugo.


	4. Unreasonable

I nearly drifted off myself.

That was before I heard the door open, knob and hinges squeaking faintly. It was Toriel, carrying a plate. I could smell the butterscotch from where I sat. Not noticing anything out of the ordinary, she left the slice of pie near my feet.

Quietly, she turned off the lamp still illuminating the room, gazing upon the shoes near it. Her eyes fondly recalled something as her smile faltered. As she backed out, however, her expression was set. Darkness entered as she exited, making it _just_ difficult to see.

Often, Frisk tossed and turned. Closing my eyes, I wound up the music box again. They relaxed a little as my son’s tune played. Surfacing memories of cake and coffee came from the scent of something freshly baked, playing in my mind’s eye as a flickering black and white movie.

“Dear, would you like to taste some?”

“I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” She gave me a thin slice. Sweetness lingered in my mouth. “It tastes good.”

She smiled. “I’m glad you think so. The real thing will be for our son.”

I hummed in thought. “If it’s like this, I think he will like it too.”

Softly, the Queen’s voice flitted and out as small talk ensued. I don’t remember it very clearly. Just the smell of coffee.

The music box stopped playing. I didn’t notice how much time had passed. I was awoken by Frisk, who began stirring. My lids lifted. It didn’t feel like that long.

They slid from the bed and sat next to me, dragging the plate of cinnamon butterscotch pie closer to them. “Want some?”

I shook my head. “I’m not hungry.”

“Well, alright. I’ll have to take some along for you then.” Frisk took a nibble from it. “What’s that you’re holding? And I heard some… music, I think? It was weird, but kinda nice…”

I shrugged. “It’s a music box,” I answered simply.

“It did sound like one.” They nodded to themselves. “The music kinda reminded me of something, actually.” It was the kind of song to do that. “Like when I see ants crawling in a line… going somewhere…” There was a look on their face which I couldn’t decipher. They seemed… faraway.

“A-Anyways uh… sorry about taking so long. With the nap…” Frisk rubbed the back of their head. I barely gave a shrug of acknowledgement. “We should get going, I guess.”

I stood, hoisted my bat onto my shoulder and started towards the door, waiting for Frisk to catch up. They opened the door into their familiar hallway, appearing contented by the cream walls, wooden floorboards, the typha… It was truly Home, and home.

Frisk seemed attracted to the source of the butterscotch smell. This led them to the living room, where Toriel sat reading a book. “Up already, I see? If you need anything, just ask, alright dear?”

They returned her smile with a nod, heading to the kitchen. On top of the counter was a large tray of butterscotch cinnamon pie with a single slice missing—no doubt the one that Frisk was currently holding on to.

With a gulp, Frisk searched around for a knife, seemingly intimidated by the enormity of the pastry. They got their hands on a filed down knife stained by butterscotch, cream and crumbs and used that to procure another slice of the pie before thrusting it towards me.

My eyes narrowed. “Didn’t you understand earlier? Or did you ignore me?” I whispered.

They sighed. “You don’t have to eat it now, silly…” Silly. Really. Frisk noted my expression. “Batter… Let me be straight up with you.” I raised an eyebrow, and taking it as a signal to go on, they continued, “I want to be friends with you.”

I almost couldn’t resist chuckling at Frisk’s notion. “And I don’t want to,” I said simply.

For a moment, they seemed stunned. “Why is that?”

Shrug. I didn’t want to explain. “And I’m guessing you don’t want to answer me either.” Frisk muttered a sarcastic ‘great!’ under their breath as they returned the piece to its original place. They then walked back to the living room. I noticed a vague stiffness and ‘stomp’ noise with each footstep.

I might be supposed to protect them, but that didn’t mean that I had to become ‘friends’ with them or that I should answer to every request of theirs.

Frisk’s voice was faint, but I could tell they were talking to Toriel. It wasn’t clear enough to make out. Taking a deep breath, I began towards the exit, glancing back at the tray.

It _was_ a valuable healing item in Frisk’s world. The likelihood of there being something tougher to fight against was laughable, however. I sighed.

A moment later, I followed Frisk, where I saw them listening to Toriel reading aloud some snail facts from her book. I never understood this obsession with snails. They were edible, of course, but… I shook my head. Not the time.

“Um, Toriel… What do you do if you have someone that you want to be friends with, but they don’t want to be friends with you back?” they asked, sinking into the monster’s lap. Was Frisk trying to be passive aggressive about me and my relationship with them?

She seemed thoughtful. After a moment, she replied, “Well dear… You can only try to be sociable with them until they choose to reciprocate those feelings.” Toriel stroked Frisk’s hair. They seemed to be enjoying it. “But of course, it is important to know your limits and stop if they truly do not want to be your friend. Some people are that way and sometimes, it may not be possible to change that.”

I wouldn’t say I liked her response, but I did agree to some of it. Her second last sentence, that is. Frisk sighed softly, but nodded. “What’s the matter? Is there someone you’re having trouble getting to know?” she asked as Frisk hopped out of her lap.

“I guess so,” they answered.

After a while, Frisk came to the conclusion that they needed to leave after exhausting their last bits of interaction with her and voiced that to Toriel, eventually getting her to leave the room for what was presumably the exit of the ruins.

All the while, I was biting back a sarcastic ‘subtle’ as their conversation ran through my mind.

Frisk followed Toriel after this, glancing at me with a frown. The road to the end of the ruins was long, and after many encounters of Toriel explaining her intentions and the dangers of King Asgore Dreemurr, we stood at the exit to the rest of the world.

“Prove yourself. Prove to me that you are strong enough to survive,” Toriel spoke gravely, gathering orbs of flame in her paws.

Their face was set as the fire intensified, now coursing towards them in helix shapes.

I gripped my bat tightly, fingers, hand, wrist and arms twitching—aching to swing. “Remember what you said,” Frisk whispered, their pulsing, red SOUL now exposed as they began inching through the gaps in Toriel’s magic.

I swore I might hit them soon and it wouldn’t be on accident. “No need to remind me,” I grumbled.


	5. Immolation

A few days was all that you needed to lose your edge?

Frisk’s SOUL was whisked around through the flames, but occasionally, they’d be grazed. Toriel’s patterns had become more of a challenge for you to dodge, not having played for what? Three days? In any case, the field around you, filled with flames, was taking away more of Frisk’s health points.

Frowning as the numbers went from twenty to eight, I charged my baseball bat with white, glowing energy. I wasn’t sure if it would work across systems, but it seemed I didn’t have to worry as a familiar electro swing tune scratched to life.

Toriel across from me, Frisk and my Add-Ons on my side, I muttered ‘Save First Base’. The power within my bat engulfed Frisk, restoring their numbers. My ATB slowly filled up after that, and definitely, the ATB for my Add-Ons were almost all full.

There was a pause as they seemed to notice the change in air, charged with chiptune, backgrounds stained violet as Battle Time began. “My child… _what_ is that?” Toriel murmured, staring at me wide-eyed.

They didn’t seem sure how to explain. Frisk also seemed confused by the change in interface but you, with your familiar grip on the rather simple system, felt it was an old friend’s greeting. “I am the Batter. They’re under my protection,” I spoke simply, meeting her gaze with a glare of my own.

Frisk checked the burns they’d sustained thus far, finding that they were completely gone. “How’d you do that?” they muttered to themselves, before turning back to Toriel.

I folded my arms, waiting for some other reaction other than surprise from the monster. “Even if… You say that you are protecting this child, I cannot let you pass.” If she was trying to suppress her fear, she was doing a good job.  “Unless…”

“I prove to you my strength.”

They looked up at me with widened eyes, shaking their head as if to tell me ‘no!’

She nodded, flames now flaring brightly from her paws. “Fight me, or run away!”

The magic swirled around Toriel, blasting me and all three Add-Ons in painful curls of energy. But no. I was used to it. She didn’t hit harder than any spectre or competence from before. I wasn’t overly familiar with why—perhaps it was because Toriel didn’t want to hurt me seriously.

Scoffing to myself, I watched her eyes, now pinpricks as they saw into me, flitting with confusion.

“Batter!” Frisk called. “Are you alright?”

I shrugged, brushing the injuries off. This was nothing. The same glow from Save First Base swallowed me, soothing what burns I’d sustained thus far.

Snapping away from her stupor, Toriel let loose a burst of fire, rings of it radiating from her body. Frisk took my free hand and dragged me into an interface change on the bullet board, their SOUL now pulling me through the patterns of magic. I now have a practical use for someone who uses a different battle interface.

Frisk doesn’t want me to kill her and according to my statistics, I could easily do so. Hitting someone from this high a level, who doesn’t appear to have the intent to kill, and I could give less of a damn about with the Ashley Bat could very well result in death.

You seemed very calm, however. Hovering over my ACT options, you saw Wide Angle and Talk. I didn’t have anything on me of use, and the MERCY options had Spare and Flee. Was it some kind of faith in your ability to SAVE?

In any case, you selected the Spare option, which earnt no additional text boxes or dialogue. Heart on the Bullet Board, you somehow managed to manoeuvre me past the incoming helixes of flame.

When it came to Frisk’s turn, you looked everything over and also tried Spare, seeing as repeated instances of sparing worked to end the fight with Toriel the last time. Perhaps it was an astonishment to you, because it yielded no additional dialogue.

I couldn’t discern how you felt. Confusing, perhaps? You hovered around the options and tried Talk on my turn.

I don’t think you really took into account how much I actually like talking and thinking of conversation topics. ‘Ironically, talking doesn’t seem to be the solution to this situation.’

You looked at using FIGHT before, but you felt like you didn’t want to kill anyone. I’m not really sure what you’re aiming for, by sparing everyone in the game when you were obviously so eager to go along with my quest of ‘purifying’ the spectres before.

At this point, who _didn’t_ know it was a euphemism?

But really, what could you do? You were running out of choices. Rather hesitantly, hovering between FIGHT and any of the other boxes. After a while, you did, selected Toriel’s HP and brought up the Attack Bar. Five white bars flung across the space.

Frisk’s eyes widened as my Add-Ons and I wound up to attack.

By not pressing anything, the attack missed. I don’t know what you’re trying to pull here. You don’t honestly think that missing is going to do anything, do you? It missed her by an inch. She was lucky.

Toriel’s eyes widened, however, as air flew and whistled past her face. “What are you proving this way?” She clenched her paws. “Why do I feel a strange chill?” she whispered. Toriel’s staring at me seemed to answer everything.

Either way, they breathed out a sigh of relief as they saw I didn’t make any contact with her. “Toriel! I don’t want to hurt you!” Frisk called.

I glared at her, shifting my bat back onto my shoulder.

She looked like her SOUL hadn’t pounded that hard in years. Toriel looked worriedly between me and Frisk. For a moment, none of us shifted. “Toriel, I promise. We’ll be okay,” Frisk tried to reassure her.

Again, Toriel glanced between the two of us, first at me, then at Frisk.

“Get away from him!”

Growls of pain, caused by a massive influx of flame. Somehow, her magical attacks had increased in intensity. That would explain the agony burrowing in me. I wanted to glare at her, but I was still busy trying to withstand it.

I could see that a larger chunk of HP was taken, the fire slowing down in consumption rate through the numbers, reeling and reeling.

Frisk gasped. I could hear them. “Toriel! What are you doing?!”

I felt Alpha black out on the floor.

“Whatever he is, he is dangerous! I cannot allow you to leave, let alone travel with him!” she shouted, flames ensnaring the whole of the Bullet Board.

I couldn’t see what came next. HP was dwindling. Omega was also knocked out? Epsilon didn’t feel much better.

“You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do!” I heard growling and it sounded vaguely like Frisk. I couldn’t tell. Somehow, the flames faded away. I rolled onto the floor, muttering ‘Save Third Base’ to heal my wounds.

Toriel couldn’t hide the horror on her face as she stared into Frisk’s. Their hands were burnt. Their HP had fallen to 15. “I know you’re afraid for me. And you want me to stay. You’ve been here alone for a long time.” She seemed speechless.

“But… He’s my friend. We’ll be alright.”

I struggled to full height. I couldn’t believe I had to waste my Competence Points on this, but I revived my other two companions.

She gritted her teeth, bit her lip, standing through the shivers flowing through her. Frisk hugged Toriel. I directed my gaze at the ground. The battle interface disappeared.

Friend?


	6. Without

Why? It would’ve been so easy.

Just hit her with my bat, be on my way… I didn’t have an obligation to listen to Frisk. I was supposed to protect them, but that didn’t mean I was at their beck and call. Hell, I’d thought about that earlier!

So why didn’t I end up killing Toriel when I could’ve?

We managed to leave her behind at the door, walking through the next long corridor before encountering a very familiar, golden flower.

“Huh. You must think you’re _really_ smart, don’tcha?”

Frisk froze as they stared at Flowey, who was looking straight at me. “I don’t know who you are, tall batter guy… But I can sense that your SOUL’s really strong. How I would love it for myself…” He smiled, expression contorted by greed and the promise of terror. “Well… I’m not stupid though! Psh. What are you doing, following that silly kid around anyways?”

I hardly shifted, giving a shrug in response. “Not much of a talker, huh?” Flowey threw his head back and laughed, distorted voice coming through. “Ah well… Do what you’d like. This is… actually pretty interesting… I’m looking forward to seeing where this goes!” With that, he disappeared into the ground.

If that flower was planning on trying to take my soul, he’d end up on every surface of my bat—Wait.

I have a SOUL? I furrowed my brow at the thought.

“Um, are you okay?” Frisk asked. I gave a non-committal grunt. They folded their arms. “Well… Flowey’s… He gets better.” Again, non-committal response. Shrug. “Let’s go.”

Frisk knelt next to the hole that Flowey originally occupied, giving it a look that I wouldn’t identify.

Still… Someone like me has a SOUL? I never noticed what colour my soul was either.

Apparently they had some significance in what kind of state Frisk’s SOUL would be in—if it was blue, then gravity was affected for it and being green meant that you couldn’t escape. Other colours.

I brushed the thought off. Eventually, we exited the ruins and entered a long corridor of black, stake trees that shuddered with cold and dread. Tall and overpowering, they eclipsed most of my peripheral vision.

Still, Frisk seemed unbothered by the strange atmosphere of the snow bordered path and they kept on moving forward.

A shuffle.

I snapped my head around, hearing the now broken twig on the road.

In all likelihood, Frisk would probably tell me not to attack but I had to say, I was through with blindly listening to their requests. I was going to do my job. Their 15/20 wasn’t a necessary loss.

Clicking my tongue, I listened once more for the shuffling.

Frisk was quickly putting distance between the two of us. I swung my bat into the nearest sound.

“huh. i’ve never seen someone like you before,” a deep, drawling voice spoke, a chuckle punctuating their comment. “you sure you want to fight me, buddy?”

I kept my gaze steady, trained on the monster in front of me. A shorter, stout skeleton. He wore a blue hoodie, shorts and… slippers. “geez. do you guys even emote?”

“If you’re not attacking us, then I won’t kill you,” I said simply.

The skeleton constantly grinned, even as I threatened it. “well, i wasn’t planning to attack. i just wanted to greet the two of you. the other kid ahead of you seems a little familiar, but eh.”

I turned back to face Frisk. Their face was horror struck. “but you… no idea, to be honest. still. i guess if you’re supposed to be protecting the kid, you can’t be all bad. even if your LOVE says otherwise…”

I scoffed. “I wouldn’t really know.”

“hey, it’s okay. i mean, having your LOVE at what? 49? 50? what’ve _you_ been up to?” Although he seemed happy on the outside, there was something about the baleful look that he gave me—something that told me he the complete opposite. “anyways… i’m sans. sans the skeleton. what about you?”

I hesitated to give him any form of identification but eventually I spoke, “Batter.”

“little on the nose there,” Sans commented.

I rolled my eyes. “Like your name is any better.” I looked back towards Frisk, who was watching our exchange with a mixture of intrigue and fear.

“and the kid behind you?”

They pursed their lips before answering, “Frisk.” As I turned to hear their answer and turned back to Sans, I noticed that he was strangely absent from his original place.

He was right in front of them. How?! I didn't even see him move and he did so too quickly for it to be normal.

He extended a hand to Frisk, who took it and shook. As they clasped it, a noise which I thought to be a farting sound ripped through the almost tranquil, almost unsettling silence.

Frisk giggled. “The whoopee cushion in the hand trick?” they questioned.

“yup. it’s always funny.” Sans chuckled. “say, i’m not exactly sure about the batter guy, but… you're human, right?” They nodded in response. “that’s hilarious.”

Frisk’s smile turned into a frown, however. “The Batter? Not human? He looks like a perfectly normal human to me.” The confusion was evident in their voice.

Sans looked surprised for a moment, but it was almost unnoticeable on his constantly smiling face. “well kid, I guess i’ll take your word for it. come on. let’s go meet my brother. i bet he’ll be excited to meet an actual human.”

I could feel the edge in his voice, obviously directed at me. Walking forward, I could see a taller, skinnier skeleton rushing towards them. 

Unlike Sans, this monster looked like he was dressing the part of a sort of ranger or superhero, with the way his scarf was billowing. Strange. There was no wind.

“hey papyrus,” Sans greeted his brother.

“SANS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? YOU CAN’T SERIOUSLY BE SLACKING OFF NOW!” Papyrus exclaimed.

Sans laughed. “nah. i’ve gotten a _ton_ of work today. A skele-ton.”

Badum tsh!

That kind of sound came as he made his joke. I groaned. Frisk seemed to be smiling at it. Papyrus was trying hard not to smile, his expression flickering between grinning and disappointment.

I could really go without puns. This is a terrible brand of humour.


	7. Entombment

Out of spite, Papyrus huffed and gave Sans a “AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE ‘BACKBONE’ INTO IT!” before leaving the premises.

That’s it. I give up. This world is infested with puns. I must cleanse it. Damn comedian. Tightening the grip on my bat as Sans talked with Frisk—it was something about hanging out with his brother since he’d been down for the past few days or whatever—I stepped forward and performed Wide Angle on him.

1 HP, 1 ATK and 1 DEF. The weakest enemy.

So his statistics said. My bat was aimed at his head.

There was no sweet, satisfying crack. Just the air whipping past my weapon.

Sans had disappeared. Frisk too. “Batter! What are you doing?!” they called out.

I turned to face where the voice had come from. Sans and Frisk were behind the nearby sentry station, with the former engorging themselves on ketchup. “wow. you really aren’t friendly…” Sans shook his head. ‘what’s wrong? you should be glad! i’m choosing not to _bat_ an eye at you.” He winked.

As I rushed towards him, sliding into the crunch of the ice, he disappeared once more. “but if you _are_ looking for a bad time, i’m not going to stop you.” His left eye glowed, fluctuating between blue and yellow.

That’s when I felt a pressure from my chest. Something dragged out from me with such rupturing force. In front of where I thought my lungs to be was the shape of a beating heart, pulsating with a red colour, similar to whenever Frisk was engaged in battle.

“huh. i never would’ve pegged you for having a SOUL, but i guess it’s not impossible. looks a bit different to my buddy here.” A red, upside down heart. “eh. who cares? if you’re picking a fight, i suppose i’ll give one to ya.”

I felt a crushing weight upon me as my red SOUL was subject to increased gravitational force and turned a deep blue. Seeing a red line, I was commanded to leap above it. The colour returned to normal, suspending my SOUL mid-air before lines of bones shot towards me in a snaking motion from below and above.

My physical body didn’t feel pain. However, I could feel the strength of my SOUL slowly being chipped away, as if my consciousness was fading as a result.

Huge, skull-like weapons lined the Bullet Board, firing beams of white energy in first a square, a cross, square and finally a beam that took up almost the whole expanse of the board.

The amount of HP I had was alarmingly low, INV having been taken away as a result of KR. Invulnerability and Karmic Retribution, you cursed. “huh. you managed to some of my first attack. good for you. it’s not like you’ve seen any of it before, right?”

After a moment’s hesitation, you did _something_ to make Sans progress through his dialogue, when white orbs shot from my SOUL towards him. Rather infuriatingly, he dodged. “almost wasn’t expecting that. but from a SOUL that’s close to human, but close to monsters? maybe i should be more careful.”

Still, with that grin of his, he shrugged.

I’m dragging this to my domain. Instead of the Bullet Board of Undertale, the familiar setup of my team against Sans appeared.

“hey. that’s not very nice. when someone invites you over to their house, you don’t force them to go over to yours.” He seemed to mean it in jest.

The black Bullet Board screen tried pushing the Battle Time screen away, the two images struggling against each other. It looked like the laptop screen itself was glitch-ing to you.

Flashes of red light came from the boundaries separating the two screens, splitting them with the strike of a knife reading 32, over and over again. As Sans watched, he looked visibly shaken.

The boundary shuddered, fell away and the two images spun, before landing on the screen of the Bullet Board again. Sans stared at me, seemingly in disbelief before falling back onto his usual, lazy grin.

I saw the upside down heart cursor at the bottom screen, moving my SOUL to the options.

Why are you moving it to MERCY?!

As you hovered on the box, you weren’t able to press the specific key to select the option. Only left. Sans watched lazily, his eyes seeming to narrow as the cursor moved to ITEM, trying to select it. The key wouldn’t work either. I could feel your will trying to press it, over and over again.

Then finally, when you tired of trying… FIGHT.

Select.

Sans.

Two white lines went from left to right across the attack bar, but you didn’t press anything. A big, fat ‘MISS’ appeared near Sans’ head. There was some dialogue. Can’t remember what.

As bones with holes in them appeared, the SOUL you could see suddenly switched to upright position, becoming blue at the bottom of the board. You couldn’t move it.

Frisk’s 20/20 HP dwindled to zero.

And the Game Over screen appeared.

Your name appeared. It was the same name as the one you’d named yourself when you were my puppeteer. ‘You must stay determined…!’


End file.
